Generations
by Scepidilionz
Summary: The apocalypse would change how any one thought about and viewed the world, perhaps even themselves and other people, but to what extent would it affect the generations to follow? T for language and innuendos.
1. Chapter 1

This story is part of my Ten Generations and One million words challenge!

I will be chronicling ten Generations after the apocalypse, over the course of one million words,

so do the math, and that's 100,000 words for each generation.

Which is approximately the size of a large multiple chapter fanfiction.

Of course, given the nature of this fanfiction, there will be numerous events of character death,

as well as OCs once we get past the second generation.

That being said, I hope you'll stick with me through this journey

and see my interpretation of how the apocalypse will impact the survivors over time.

10,000 words a chapter, 100,000 words a generation.

Ranet Castle, moment de l'argent sans fin, year Three, month of the Bull.

They paused in front of the castle's gates, watching as their escort and her two adopted children raised their left elbow into the air, and extended their right arm with a bladed hand down diagonally, pointing to the floor, the two joints making a continuous line. Rick watched nervously as the guards atop the wall scrambled to open the gate on the other side of the moat, a few ran off, seemingly to prepare for something. He looked to Daryl, to make sure he was ready in the event that something went awry, which of course, he was.

"Rick. I trust her." He whispered, looking to the red head that he had known since before the fall, Irene. They had found her when they stumbled across Shawn, her adopted son, and his twin sister, Dawn, as they were fleeing from another group, crying that their mother desperately needed help. Daryl had recognised the woman's name, and rampantly rushed to help, finding her right arm cut at the ligaments, so she couldn't use it, left as walker bait.

Despite Irene's past connection with Daryl, she and Carol made quick friends. Irene couldn't be happier that Daryl found someone, even in today's mess. She was still disappointed when she learned that the two weren't officially together, but knew that there were sparks in their eyes each time they exchanged glances, and that it was only a matter of time before they professed their love to each other.

Carol held Judith close to her, standing beside Carl. The baby looked up the the lowering bridge with a sense of wonder, "Irene, there aren't any walkers near, how is it so clear?"

Irene smiled, turning to face her, walking backwards, leading them towards the bridge. "We aren't the only castle in the area." She pointed up to the black flag at the top of the castle, which had a red and purple stripe leading down from the upper right side, to the lower left, and a white circle in the upper left side, "We're Ranet, there's also Schubert, Kirk, Erickson, and Gulyert castles. Erikson castle does a great job with the walkers, leading them away and killing them. In the event of a herd, Ranet castle has two moats, one outside the first bridge, and one on the inside. The Inner one has generators that we can power using either gas reserves or manual labor to zap anyone and anything that gets in, however we've never had anything get past the first gate."

Dawn put her hands on her hips proudly, jutting her chin into the hair, blonde hair flicking around in the wind, "We have the largest population of all the castles, as well as the biggest trained militia. Ranet and Gulyert castle deal with other survivor groups that are threats, such as the Wolves, which I'm sure you've encountered, they're active in these parts, and like to target our scouts, like mama."

"Not to mention our library." Shawn added, "Lyra, our leader, is adamant over keeping knowledge alive, and not letting ourselves fall back into the dark ages. We teach the kids everything, navigation, basic medicine, chemistry, even masonry." He smiled at Carl, who was around his age, "You'd be in my class, we're learning weaponsmithing this lunar month."

"You still have a calendar system?" Rick asked, this piquing curiosity. He took his first step onto the wooden bridge, listening to the wood creak beneath him. "Most groups only started keeping track of the seasons after everything hit the fan."  
Irene nodded, making eye contact with a young woman in a short green dress and heels, her hair was pinned up tightly. "Yeah but it's a lunar calendar, not the solar calendars you're used to. Lunar is much easier to calculate,and we lost track of everything before we got to the castle, so our first year starts right after Ranet was settled." She waved to the girl in the dress, who looked up seeing the motion out of the corner of her eye, "Lyra!"

She put down the broadsword she was examining, walking over. She scanned the group, before laying eyes on Rick, extending her hand, "Lyra, Clan Leader of Ranet. It's a pleasure." She could tell by the way his shoulders were spread and the way the others looked at him that he was in charge. "You've been out awhile, but these three say you're good people, and that you'd like to join us."

Rick looked at their escorts, wondering how they could have exchanged words without contact, and they didn't have walkies either, "Yes, we would. This place seems safe." He looked back to Carl and Judith, "We have families."

"I see that. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll fit right in. But before I can yet you through the second gate, you need to be in this area for a day or two. You'll receive food and water, don't worry, but we like to know who we're letting into the commons. This is a security measure I'm sure you will understand. I'll have my doctors come out and look you all over as well." She looked to Maggie, nodding in her direction. Her baby bump was now showing, and she could tell by how close Glenn was standing next to her that he was the father, "We'll check out the baby as well, we don't exactly have ultrasound machines, but we've delivered a dozen healthy babies." This earned a smile from Maggie, who looked up at Glenn. She turned her attention back to Rick, "Weapons will be secured, but you'll have access to them again before long."

"Thank you." Rick nodded, taking out his weapon and handing it to her, and everyone else did as well, copying his example.

Lyra smiled, tilting her said slightly to the side, "Though if you try anything, I take security very seriously, and I won't let you go." The smile was still on her face, sending chills down his spine, "I will kill you all. I will not excommunicate you, you will simply cease to breathe. Alright?" She didn't expect an answer as she spun around on her heels, footsteps echoing on the cobblestone underneath her, "Irene, stay and make sure they settle in. Dawn, Shawn, follow me, I wish to know about this group." The children followed without any hesitation, Dawn kissing Carl's cheek as she ran off, causing the boy to blush, and Carol laughed, seeing the exchange. The three exited through the second drawbridge, the children flanking their leader.

Carol spoke to Irene, "She always like that?"

"She has to be. She was our last leader's assistant. He let a group go after they betrayed us from within, unfortunately, members of the coup attempt were some of his advisors, so they knew every way in and out of this place. They came back for revenge, and killed him. Ranet was in chaos, and Lyra was next in line, she had to get everything back in order. Her first law was that treason was a capital punishment, that she wouldn't repeat Ranet's, uh… that was our first leader's name, mistakes." She lead them over to tents, helping them set them up, which didn't take long.

Rick looked up when he heard the inner bridge creak again, Dawn was coming out with food for them, along with two other girls. He couldn't restrain his mouth from salivating when the scent of meat hit his nostrils. "You seem to have a good system here."

Irene nodded, "All the castles work together as best as we can, we each have different roles to play, and we play them well."

The group gathered around a fire as the sun set, enjoying the lushly prepared food that was brought to them. They took turns being examined by various doctors in the privacy of one of the tents. It was the first time that they felt they could really relax in a long while. Even Michonne and Daryl cracked a couple of smiles that night. They exchanged stories with some of the people of Ranet, some of whom had been let out to meet the new arrivals.

Lyra watched all of this from one of the guard towers, "Watson." She said, looking back to her assistant, "We'll take shifts tonight. Listen into them, I want to hear everything they say, especially Rick, the tall one with the beard."

Watson nodded, stepping up beside her, "He kinda looks like father time."

Lyra laughed, a smile glimmering in her eyes, "That was my first thought too."

He leaned forward to examine her expression, for the face spoke so much more than words did, "Think we'll be able to keep this group? Lyra… They seem like good people. I don't want to kill them."

"The twins say they're good people as well. I haven't spoken to Irene yet, I don't think I will. Shawn says she knew the bowman before everything, she's biased."

"Lyra." He turned her to look at him, placing his hands on her shoulders, she scowled at him.

"You know how I feel about being touched."

"You know how I feel about being told to kill. This time, this time only. Trust me. They're good people. You can let them in." He could see the fire in her eyes, he had pissed her off.

She flicked his arms off of her, turning to the group two stories below them, "Fine."

* * *

Two days later

Ranet Castle, moment de l'argent sans fin, year Three, month of the Bull.

Carl followed Dawn around, avoiding her eyes every time she looked to him, lest he start to blush again. "This is where we have classes, but those are in the mornings. This month we're forging weapons." She pointed to the smithery, "Fortunately all these castles are pretty old, so they still have all the old equipment in them. They were museums before the fall, except Shubert, which was still owned by the family." She then pointed to the center of the commons, "That's where we grow herbs for cooking, and there are a couple of apple trees too. We planted peach trees last year, they're not fully grown yet."

He scanned the area, everything felt too safe, too secure. It was making him more on edge than usual.

"You need to relax, you're safe here really safe. This is a permanent settlement. We're living here, not just surviving." She smiled, jumping in front of him, forcing him out of his daze, "You feeling okay?"

"It feels too good to be true. Have you really been here for so long? And you just let people in? People take up resources… and space. Those things are valuable." He still wouldn't look at her face, plus, she was so much taller than him. Girls hit their growth spurts earlier afterall.

"You're the first group we've let in in months. Lyra has been wary lately…"

"What would have happened to us if she didn't let us in?"

"The bowmen would have been ordered to kill you, except for the baby. We never kill the babies." She sighed, seeing the horror in his face, "We weren't luring you to your death. Mama made the decision, she knew that Lyra would let you in."

"You have one person in charge. One, that seems dangerous. One person decides your fate."

"She has advisors, she doesn't make the big decisions herself. She's right for the job too, she's kept us safe, isn't that what matters?"

* * *

Daryl and Carol strode up to the leader in question, who was peering over a map with Watson. They sat in the middle of the garden on a stone stable, the scene picturesque and seemingly unreal. Watson rubbed his brow, seemingly frustrated, "We need some of Schubert's horses, the team with Gulyert won't make it that far on foot."

"We don't have the dogs to trade, the pups aren't trained." Lyra scowled, biting her lip. "Volf is picky, he wants them trained, his men don't know how to do it." She looked to Watson, who groaned at the mention of castle Gulyert's leader. The two hadn't gotten along since they first met, when Watson had gotten stranded while delivering a message, and Volf came to his rescue.

"'Scuse me." Daryl spoke, the two looking up, "Is there anything we can do to help? We haven't been assigned to anythin' in particular." He cleared his throat, briefly taking a glance at the map. "I'm Daryl, and this is Carol, we haven't spoken yet."

"Oh I've heard all about you two." Lyra smiled softly, folding her hands over the table, and over the map unconsciously in the process. "I was hoping you would take your time to get to know the place, but it seems survivors such as yourself are going to have trouble unwinding." That comment earned a glare from Watson, "Sorry sorry… Um…" She ran through a mental checklist of everything that needed to be done, "Daryl, I saw that you were skilled with a bow and have heard great things about your marksmanship, would you mind going down to the armoury and examining the bows? You can replace anything you need to. They're old, at least a century, but I want them working just in case we need them. Carol… Could you tell Rick I need to meet with him today? Guard tower three of the inner wall would be perfect, 'bout two hours before sundown. After that, you could help Dawn and Irene with dinner."

Watson smiled at the two, "It is good to see that you want to help out though, but please try to get to know your way around, and the people of course." _So I had made the right decision._ "Also please relax, your journey must have been very hard on you."

"Thank you, but we're fine, really." Carol smiled. It definitely seemed that Watson would be the easier one to warm up to, that would come in handy. She looked to Daryl with a smile, heading off.

Daryl lingered for a moment before finding his way to the armoury.

The bows were gorgeous.

They were definitely old, but exquisitely carved. The attention to detail was stunning. He could even make out which ones were used more frequently back in their heyday by where the wooden grips were worn out. He plucked at each of their strings to test them, finding that the majority were way too loose. There had to be supplies around there somewhere to tighten them, or replace them altogether.

There was a station to craft arrows, but he had to search to find the string supplies.

He was interrupted by a rap on the door, "Hi, I don't mean to interrupt, just need to grab my bow." A young man walked in, going for a bow on the far side of the room, "You must be one of the new guys, I'm Kendrick, but most call me Ken. I'm one of the watchmen and scouts, and I sometimes join up with the hunting party. You?"

"Daryl." He frowned when he still couldn't find the supplies, "Any idea where the string stuff is?"

"Ah yeah, but I'm too short to reach it." He was rather short for a man. He walked up to one of the shelves, pointing, "Right in that box, the little one." He watched as Daryl barely had to reach to pull it down, "Good luck fixing all of these. It took weeks last time someone did it."

"They didn't do a good job, it should stay taut for longer than that." He complained, the bows were way too loose to even function. He doubted an arrow would go five feet on the majority of these weapons. The swords were sharp, and the guns were clean. But the bows? No way.

Ken chuckled nervously, "I was the last one to do it…"

"Well you did a shitty job." Daryl got to work, he would start on the left side of the room and work his way around.

"Yeah...well, if you need help let me know." He still managed to keep a smile in his face, and Daryl grunted in response. He marched out happily, and Daryl looked at him, baffled. How could someone logically be that cheerful? It was borderline unnatural.

* * *

"Mom, I can't find the green onions." Dawn searched the dry pantry, scanning it in the low lighting that was provided. She ran her fingers through her hair with a great sigh, "Or the parsley."

Irene chuckled from where she was grinding parsley with a wooden mortar and pestle. "That would be because I already took it out. Chop up the onions while I work the parsley." She looked up when she saw Carol walk into the kitchen. "Oh hey Carol! What can I do for you?" She set her tools down, leaning on the counter as Dawn started chopping up the little greens. She saw how Dawn was doing it and reached over to guide her hand in an easier method momentarily.

Carol looked around briefly, it was such a large kitchen to only have two workers, "Where is everyone?"

"Training, we have the largest military of the castles, remember? It's just Dawn and I the majority of the time. When we're not here, a couple of the scouts take over. It's a rotating duty." She smiled, looking over the venison they were in the middle of preparing. She went and got the wood stove burning at a low, smoldering heat. "It's not too hard, for the bigger meals for celebrations, like when a baby is born or the leaders meet, we have a lot more people in here. It gets a bit hectic."

"You celebrate babies?" Carol raised a brow, it seemed a silly thing to celebrate outside of the immediate family.

Irene nodded with a gigantic smile, "Because it shows that life is continuing, that even in this dark and crazy world, we still have hope. Hope is something to celebrate." She started to grind her herbs again, "So you never told me what you're doing all the way down here."

"Ah, Lyra said I could come help you with dinner." She moved over to the venison, skinning it gently, leaving the fur intact like Daryl had taught her to do, since the fur could be used for many things. She copied the way Irene had started to cut it. "Do I smell Parsley?"

"Yeah, we scavenged some seeds from a local dollar store." She laughed, "Who ever thought one of those would be providing for everyone." She looked over when Dawn dumped the chopped green onions into a pot, "Next do the garlic sweetie."

"Yes mom." She nodded and started to get to work again.

"How many people do we need to feed?" Carol asked so she could know when to stop cutting.

"A buck fifty."

"A hundred and fifty people?!" Carol asked in shock. She hadn't seen nearly that many people in the commons.

"Yes, that doesn't include the wives that will come down here to cook for their families, that's just the military, and your group since you don't have a clan room yet." This wasn't the first time today Carol had heard about clan rooms, from what she had gathered it was the individual rooms that linked the homes of multiple families, usually at the end of a hallway. The castle was huge, in its era it likely supported a thousand people. "I'm sure Watson will assign you one by the end of the day, he's the one in charge of that. Have you met him yet? He's the sweetest young man on the face of the planet, and cute too."

Dawn groaned from behind them, "Ew, mom, gross." This earned a laugh from the two older women. "What?"

"I'm only twentyfive!" Irene giggled, "Or twenty six, I don't know. My birthday was this time of year." That was before they lost track of the date when everything went to hell. Now they had a system, but they had to start from scratch. "I guess I can't count myself as a year older until after the Taurus month ends."

"I guess it'll take some getting used to, a whole different calendar system. It'll be easier on the children, who are growing up with it, than old folks like me." Irene shook her head in response, she would hardly call Carol old. "What? I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore."

"Well after spring is summer, and after summer you still have fall and winter. So you're a summer chicken." Irene couldn't help but smile, "Speaking of which, have you seen our chicken? We actually have a hen house." It was on the northern side of the castle. They had to build it themselves, given that the hen house was originally at Schubert castle. Fortunately they had been kind enough to breed some for Ranet.

"No, I wasn't aware you had any." It reminded her of Hershel's farm."Horses? Pigs?"

"Horses, dogs, sheep and cows. No pigs yet, those are at Schubert castle. We'll get some by the end of the year though." She yawned, having not gotten much rest since their return, "The trees are more impressive. So many fruits, herbs, flowers."

"Flowers?"

"We trade them to the other castles. Quite valuable actually. We have the most fertile land of the five. We got pretty lucky in that aspect, but we're in the open more than the others. They have mountains to help cover them, we have a river on one side."

Irene continued to tell Carol everything she could about the castles, until they eventually finished cooking. It wasn't long before the trainees came inside, laughing and carrying on. There was nothing like beating each other to a pulp in hand to hand sparing to make a group of men bond.

* * *

"Watson, I don't like writing about new people… It's always so long… and my hand hurts… it already hurts and I haven't even started!" Lilly whined, clutching her notebook to her chest. It looked like tears were forming in her eyes, which was absolutely absurd. He stroked her cheek, before pulling her into a hug. "Watson, I hear he looks like father time. I'll have fun sketching him."

He laughed, petting her hair, "Yeah, he does. It's the beard." It was then that they heard familiar heels coming up the steps and separated immediately, in sync, as if they were expecting to have to. "He should be up here soon, just make sure to get everything down, we have to preserve the past for what comes in the future."

She rolled her eyes, sensing that he was back in business mode. He had to be when Lyra was around. "I know, I know. And I have been chosen for such a sacred duty, right?" He nodded in agreement, though made a smile when Lyra made it up the steps, greeting her.

"Good evening." She stepped up to the edge of the wall, leading on the stone railing, looking out towards the other castles. She could feel the sun on her back as it prepared to rest for the night. "Watson, go get their rooms set up. The northern wing is mostly empty, use that." She had a mental map of the castle was well, as was expected of their leader. Of course, she went above and beyond and could draw it, as well as tell you how many occupants were in each room and what weapons were stored there. That was another one of Ranet's mistakes.

"Yes ma'am." He quietly kissed Lilly's cheek since Lyra was facing the other way, and headed down the steps without another word.

The two women heard Rick approaching not too much later. His footsteps were heavy and clunky. People tended to walk that way when they were tired. It was likely that he hadn't slept, being too wary and watching out for his group. It would take a while for that survival instinct to die down. "Evenin'" He spoke, voice hoarse and gruff.

"Evening." She turned around, legs crossed slightly. "This is Lilly, Ranet's main scribe. It's her job to write down everything that was happened to us, both while we're here, and before we got here. Being you're in charge of your group, I would like you to tell her your experiences so that we can include them in our books." She squinted, as the setting sun was now in her green eyes. What she wouldn't do for a pair of sunglasses right now.

Lilly smiled up at Rick, given how short she was, "This will likely take a couple of days, given you have been out there for a long time. But please don't skimp on the details! I'll also need to make sketches of you and your group at some point." She nearly dropped her pencil randomly, but caught it, "Sorry."

Lyra gave her a funny look before drawing Rick's attention again, "Watson is preparing your clan room right now, and I'm well aware that you all would prefer to stay together, and such accommodations are being made." She shifted as to not face the sun, stepping away from the railing, "It'll be ready by dark, he's fast at that stuff. Dinner was also prepared for you, everyone else is eating right now. You and Lilly may speak there if you wish." She didn't say another word and headed down the stairs herself, closing her eyes, once again running through her mental lists. _We need more meat, can't kill the cattle. Too valuable, not enough to sustain viable population as it is. Venison? Should I send some scouts out? Can't be Irene's family, it's too soon to send them out again. Newcomers show promise, but I want to keep an eye on them._

Lilly smiled again, "We should probably talk over dinner, you must be famished." She took his hand, holding her notebook and pen with the other, and started to lead him towards the court, which was separated from the commons by a section of guard wall. "There's a shortcut through up here. I like to take walks up here at night, it's so pretty. The one good thing about this all, other than the people I've met, is that there's no more light pollution. We can see the stars again, and they're so beautiful."

"Yeah, they are, but we still never got to look at them too much. Being outside at night is dangerous out there." He did get to see them a few times when they were at the prison, when it wasn't too cloudy, like their first night there. Carl loved them.

They could see the masses of people eating dinner, all interacting over a nice hot meal, something that was difficult to come by in these times, yet somehow, by either luck or skill, these people had adapted. "Look, I can see your friends down there." She pointed to Maggie and Glenn, who were snuggled up together listening to one of the hunters tell a story about his encounter with a mother bear and her cubs. "Venison tonight, I can smell it from here."

"Yum." He said, climbing down the stairs, letting go of her hand. He could tell by the smile on Carl's face that he had had a good day. Dawn was up and talking to her brother of the Day's events, and Shawn had a gash across his cheek, but he still wore a bright smile. Carol was helping Irene serve everyone, and Daryl was of course avoiding the whole mess altogether. Michonne was holding Judith carefully, feeding her some mashed carrots that Carol and prepared just for her.

He and Lilly sat down, and Carol brought them food with a smile. She loved this type of work. Rick told her their story, or at least the start of it. How he fled the hospital, and eventually made it to Atlanta. How Glenn had rescued him from the Tank. How he finally found his family in the Atlanta camp, and what happened at the CDC.

"You mean… They really aren't making a cure?" Her eyes grew foggy, almost hopeless. "I always thought that one day I would hear a helicopter overhead, with a loudspeaker, telling us that everything was going to be okay and that we'd beaten this thing." She closed her eyes to think, trying not to cry. "That my grandchildren wouldn't have to live through this…"

He could hear the pain in her voice, it sounded so familiar. He had thought the same thing back then, before it all. He still probably would if the group hadn't been there themselves. If they hadn't met Jenner first hand. "I know it's hard to think about, but this is the world now, and it'll be like this for a very long time."  
She put her head in her hands, about to sob, if it hadn't been for Watson stepping over and wrapping his arm around her, "I think that's enough for today, don't you think? Hi Rick, I'm Watson, I don't think that we've met face to face yet." His striking green eyes met Rick's foggy blue for a brief moment, "I've just set up your clanroom." He motioned his head to a section of the north wing, "I can take you there after dinner." He rubbed Lilly's shoulder, "But I think you need to cheer up missy."

"Watson. A wonderful friend like you should know that I… need to grieve to feel better about things."

"I know, doesn't mean I like to see it. You're my best friend after all…"

Rick noticed how forced the exchange was. Either they weren't really that close, or they were way closer than they were letting on. Michonne plopped beside him, putting Judith in his lap, "She missed you." He smiled down at his daughter, tapping her nose gently, which earned a laugh.

"I missed her too." He smiled, pulling Judith into his arms, "Daddy was getting a lay of the land all day." She cooed in his arms.

Lilly couldn't help but smile, she loved children. They were her favourite thing to draw. She took out her pencil and sketchbook and began to sketch the scene in front of her. Watson smiled down at her, noticing how quickly the hopeless tears in her eyes had been exchanged for a smile.

* * *

Two weeks later

Ranet Castle, moment de l'argent sans fin, year Three, month of the Twins.

"Glenn!" Maggie called, carrying a sack of chicken feed, "Help me carry this!" He rushed over without any hesitation, taking the sack from her, she was working too hard. But of course this now left their new calves unattended. She sighed, looking at the young cattle, "Thanks… I just can't carry these things any more… Too much stress on my back."

Glenn smiled, wanting to hug her, if it weren't for the feed sack weighing him down, "It's okay, you shouldn't be working so hard. Why don't you take a breather before helping Michonne pick berries?"

"Yeah, good idea." She kissed his cheek, thinking, "I like it here."

"Me too. Hillary will like it here."

"I thought we agreed on Rose for a girl?"

"But Rose is so… Titanic."

Maggie rolled her eyes, managing to contain her laughter. "Legolas is still out of the question for a boy."

"Aw come on!"

"No." She shook her hand in his face, "I am not naming my child after an elf prince."

"An awesome elf prince with some serious bow skills. Just what we need, right?" He had a look of boyish glee on his face, "Come on, leave it to chance. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl. So, if the baby is a girl, we'll name her Rose, but if it's a boy, we'll name him Legolas! It's a win-win."

"Absolutely not!"

* * *

Carl could hear the whole situation from where he was guarding the wall, looking out at the forests around them, "Adult problems sure do sound childish."

Shawn smiled, "They should name it Shawn. After me. Or Shawnna." Carl shook his head, wondering why on Earth anyone would ever name a kid after Shawn, or why someone would name a kid Shawn in general. "I mean, I'm a hero."

Carl chuckled, but got quiet when he saw a trio of horse riders approaching. He looked down the scope of his rifle to get a closer look, "One of them has a small flag, white with a blue circle in the center."

"That's Schubert's flag, likely bringing supplies, or a couple piglets. See any crates?" Shawn didn't have a gun himself, his weapon was either a single string bow or a knife, unlike his sister who used a steel ball tipped whip, which was surprisingly more effective than it sounded.

Carl scanned the three, looking for anything that could contain either supplies, or living creatures, "One of them, the one on the right, had a black leather bag that was well supported. It could definitely carry little creatures like that, but I wouldn't exactly call it safe."

Shawn gently took the rifle, looking down the scope, "I don't recognise them… Get Watson!" He passed Carl his gun while he ran to the front gate to tell them not to open it, he didn't like it. Schubert always sent the same messengers.

Carl darted towards where Watson would be, a section of the second wall where he could keep an eye on the entire castle, or what was inside of it. Lyra was terribly sick, she had caught something last time she went out the wall, which was about a week ago to get meat for the group, and was being kept in isolation. "Watson! Watson!"

The man in question looked up from where he was running over inventory lists. He heard the urgency in Carl's voice and set them down, running over, "What's going on? Is something amiss?"

Carl didn't stop to answer, he just grabbed Watson's wrist, passing him the rifle so he could look down the scope, "Those men have Schubert's flag." He pointed, "But Shawn says he doesn't recognise them."

Watson paused to examine the situation, looking at the horse riders, "He's right. They aren't Frank's usual messengers. I've been in the castle many times, and I've never seen them… He doesn't actively recruit either…" He put the gun down, handing it to Carl, "Good work." He started running towards the gate, Carl running to keep up.

Before Shawn could get there, they had seen the flag and opened the first gate. They wouldn't open the second gate without direct orders.

Watson swung to pick up a speargun that had been left on a table by one of the watchmen. "Ken, Daryl, Follow me."

Daryl looked to Carl, but didn't question it. Watson was friendly, but he wasn't the joking type. If he was standing there holding a serious weapon like that, it meant serious business. They rushed down the steps, and Watson raised his hand in an order to open the second gate so that they could meet at the passing between the two. As the watchmen got to work, He looked towards the two bowmen at his sides, "They have Schubert's flag, but they're not Schubert. I don't like the smell of this. We find out who they are. If they are indeed not Schubert, and they don't carry a letter from him, we kill them." He closed his eyes, thinking of what Lyra would do in this situation. _We needed horses anyway._ He laughed internally.

Daryl cleared his throat, "What happens if we threaten them and they really are from the other castle?"

"Then Lyra issues a formal apology, and I resign. But I doubt Frank would get picky over our security measures, after all, we saved his ass last winter when the wolves invaded his castle." He took another deep breath, trying to lower the amount of adrenaline he could already feel pumping through his veins. He needed to keep his head clear, to make a proper and clear decision.

The bridge was lowered, revealing the three men still on their horses. "Yo, Ranet, we're here to bring you those supplies Lyra sent for." One of them said.

"I don't see a salute. Surely Frank taught you better." Watson stepped forward, Daryl looks like watched him carefully, he knew these people better than he did. "And I don't recall sending for supplies…" Watson was the one who did all of the inventory, all of it, regardless of whether or not Lyra was well. "When was this?" He raised a brow, scanning his memory for anything relating to this.

The one seemingly in charge stepped down from his horse, going into the main on the right's bag, "I don't know, we're not permitted to open it." He pulled a small wooden box out of the bag, "It says to specifically deliver it to Lyra LaRoix." Watson stepped forward, extending his hand, and the man pulled back, "You're not Lyra. Lyra's the short pretty one with blonde hair, and she certainly isn't a man."

"She was 5'6", which is above average height technically, and has been in the ground for over a week now. Walker bite. I'm in charge now, James Watson, and this is my assistant, Kendrick Smith. If she requested something, it was likely something very important that she never told me about. Please let me see it." He reached his hand out again, and the man begrudgingly passed it to him.

"Well, if you're the one in charge." He looked to his men, "Well, we have to get going, have more to deliver to Erickson and Gulyert." He hopped back on his horse, "See you Ranet."

Watson looked at the small box carefully, "Does he not want payment?"  
"No, Lyra paid in advance-"

Watson raised his hand, and Ken immediately shot the leader with his bow, Daryl took out one of the others, and Watson dropped the box, and wrestled the last one to the ground, holding a short knife to his throat, "Lyra never paid for anything in advance, such is against Ranet's merchant policy. A mistake that Ranet made, she would never go against her own rule." Watson licked his lip threateningly, leaning closer to his face, "Who do you work for?"

"I work for S-Schubert, I swear!"

"Daryl, search their bags. Look for a coin with a Dove on it." He pressed the knife more firmly into the man's neck, but not enough to draw blood. "What's in the box?"

"I don't know, I swear we were just told to deliver it!"

Daryl scavenged through the bags as quickly as possible. By the sound of it, Watson was having quite a bit of fun, one could tell by the trill in his voice. Who would have ever figured the man to be a complete sadist? You could never tell with people these days. "Don't see nothin'" Daryl said, dumping the last bag to the ground, revealing similar boxes to the one Watson had been presented with. He looked over to Watson, whose eyes were now completely hazy and cold.

He leaned down to the man's ear, and whispered lovingly, "I'll find your group, and I'll slice their throats open." He then slit the man's throat, some of the blood gushing onto his clothes and face. He was breathing heavily, despite looking so calm, and immediately tears formed in his eyes, "Let's just open that box." He stood up, hands shaking, but he was able to get a hold of his mind long enough to drive his foot through the man's skull.

Daryl passed him the box, "Be careful, might be some kind of nasty inside." He could see that Watson was shaking, "Perhaps you should take a moment?"

"I'm fine, just hemophobic… Or necrophobic… I don't know. Killing people… Isn't my thing." He took a deep breath, "Stand back, just in case something is wrong with the box. Ken, take their horses and the flag, we need to report this to Schubert and the other castles immediately." He opened the box.

* * *

The explosions could be heard across the entire castle.

* * *

Everyone stopped what they were doing and rushed towards the gates, including Lyra, who was supposed to be stuck in her bed. Carol looked around for any sign of Daryl on the walls and found none. Rick saw Carl, and nearly cried in relief.

Carl looked down at the mess beneath him, there was rubble everywhere. The noise would have begun drawing walkers as well, fortunately the stone walls would be impossible for them to break through-

If it weren't for the first gate being completely obliterated, there only being the moat to keep the walkers at bay.

It wasn't until the dust settled that they could make out the forms of the six unconscious men on the ground, if they were unconscious and not dead altogether. Lilly rushed right in, knowing Watson would be there, "Watson-" She covered her mouth in shock, stifling a scream. Lilly broke into tears when she mistook one of the dead men for Watson, for her eyes were blinded with tears, when she finally stumbled across him, barely able to see, she immediately checked for a pulse, but was unable to find it with her shaky ran up beside her when she didn't find Daryl, and ran up to his body , tears already free flowing from her eyes, and turned him over to check for a pulse.

"Get the doctors! Stop crowding, that's an order!" Lyra waved, pushing the crowd out of the way. Fortunately, most of the doctors were already on the scene, and started to work to get the three to somewhere they could be treated.

"We've got pulses, they're likely just in shock." One of the doctors, Yang, said. "Watson has serious burns, and all three likely have concussions." The crowd parted just enough to let all of them through. Carol and Lilly darted after, and Lyra had to fight her better urge to follow and care for her friends to instead investigate what happened.

Rick approached her, looking around, "One of my people got hurt." He looked at the three dead men. "Any idea what happened?"

She pointed to Schubert's flag, "We've been betrayed."

Carl screamed from the wall, "No, they weren't with Schubert!" It hurt to yell, his ears were still ringing from the explosion, and he coughed on the dust that had been flung into the air.

Shawn joined in as well, climbing down, dizzily, "They lied, Watson caught them. But there was a bomb in the box, he said you ordered it. Carl and I saw everything." He nearly had fallen off the ladder, and a small piece of shrapnel had hit his arm, causing it it to bleed slightly.

Lyra coughed, blood starting to come from her mouth, she had worked her lungs too hard and whatever sickness she had was taking advantage. "Watson call a-" She stopped, realizing that he was among the hurt. "It should've been me." She closed her eyes and wiped the blood from her mouth. "Rick. I need you to fill in for him." She turned to face him, determination in her eyes. "Just for a few hours. I need to do minor stuff. I need to go to-" She coughed again.

Irene shook her head, looking at the mess around them, "Your third rule. There has to be an active clan leader in the castle at all times. Watson is out of commission. So you have to stay. I'll call the summit. You rest, Dawn can help Rick keep things in order." She forced a smile, someone needed to make a joke in this situation, "And you look like shit. I've never seen you with your hair down."

Lyra raised an eyebrow, "What on Earth-" She coughed again, the dust in the air was making it harder for her to breathe.

"And no heels."

"You're dead when you get back." She had a slight smile on her face and turned to the spectators, "Get back to what you were doing, everything will be sorted out shortly. We'll find the people who did this to our own and destroy them. This was an act of war, and it shall not be tolerated!" She had a difficult time reading the crowd, not to mention speaking, especially with her cough, which was now becoming even more agitated. "That being said, I need half of the Northern wall staff to remain here and start the repairs on this wall. We need it as high as possible by nightfall."

* * *

Carol was at Daryl's side the instant she could be, looking him over carefully. The doctors had done a great job bandaging him with what little supplies that they had. He had burns all over his left arm, and had been knocked on the head by flying debris.

She noticed that Ken didn't have anyone coming in to check on him, and so she made sure that he was alright and held his hand for a moment, and whispered to him that everything would be alright. It was then that she heard a whispered and tearful, "I love you."

She looked over to see Lilly cuddling Watson's left hand, the right arm was too bandaged to be touched, as it had been impaled with shrapnel up and down it's entirety, and his chest had been ravaged. He had taken most of the damage, and very well might have saved Daryl and Ken without even realizing it.. There were also serious burns on his chest, many of which were still bleeding through the bandages, but were starting to clot.

"He's going to be okay." Carol said, knowing just how much she was hurting. She knew exactly, to the letter, the poem of grief that she was feeling in her heart. "He will."

"I never told him." She sobbed, tears and snot running down her face, "I never told him how much I really care. He could have died today… and he would have never known." She stroked his face, to which there was no response, "I think I'm pregnant."

It was then that Lyra froze in the doorway, the other two hadn't seen her yet. She placed her hand on the wall, trying to piece together what she had just heard. She closed her eyes before putting on a smile, "Congratulations, I'm sure he'll be very happy when he wakes up and finds out." Lilly flinched when she heard her voice, "He will wake up, Lilly. He won't leave us." Everything Watson did was for the good of Ranet, everything. More than anything, she was shocked to learn that he had a personal life. Watson being in love seemed unfathomable to her. _Did he not trust me enough to tell me?_

Carol turned to give the two some space and check on Daryl again. She found a bottle of waterless shampoo and decided to clean him up. Though he was far too dirty to use the waterless kind, so she found the real stuff and a bucket of water and started soaping his hair, using a rag to make sure that none got onto his face just yet.

* * *

Rick led the group that was working to help repair the wall while Dawn made sure everything else was in order. Watson had done an excellent job so far, and so the day's work was almost completed. Irene had stopped on her way out to see him, "Rick, thank you. I really appreciate what you're doing… we haven't had something like this happen since Ranet…" She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, "Take care of everyone."

"I will." Rick nodded, "You be safe out there." He patted her shoulder, effectively smearing dirt all over it, "Ah… Sorry."

She smiled, "It's fine, I'll be going now." She nodded, turning and heading off. She had a job to do, just like everyone else. Granted, her job involved her going into possibly enemy infested territory all by her lonesome. Not that she would have it any other way, she wouldn't spare another person that could be keeping their home safe.

Rick turned his attention back to the wall, hearing her horse clop off behind him. "Rick, inventory is done for the day." Dawn said as she passed him the lists. "I also took the liberty of checking for any extra structural damage that may have occurred." She looked towards the wall, "Of which there is nothing to report, but I would like to point out that this is a perfect example of why we are taught masonry."

"We won't have enough stone…" Rick said, frustrated. "It just can't be done with what we have, and I'm not an architect."

"Something we're also taught in class, briefly, in the masonry unit. The building part itself is optional, I never took it. Shawn did however. Ranet himself taught it, before he passed. I'm sure Shawn still remembers some." She looked up at Rick, "You really do look like father time."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Well it's all pointless if we don't have enough stone." He shook his head. For such a small portion of the wall, it was sure going to give them a lot of trouble.

"Actually… There's a section of the wall that we took down on the inside, we needed the space for the hen house…" She furrowed her brow, thinking, "I don't go over there much, but I'm sure the stone is still there." She made a few faces, trying to piece her thoughts together, "We could use one of the old wagons and a few horses to get some of it over here."

"Good idea, we should run it by-"

"No, you're in charge now. We can't bother her with this, she has a summit to prepare for and her health to look after." Dawn tried to think of what her mother would do, "We should just do it. It's the right call." Rick didn't look so sure when he first heard her speak, but relented when she started to walk off towards the henhouse and followed her. She was so much different than her brother. Shawn usually rushed through things, he thought quickly and acted on his instincts, Dawn was more calculated, she pieced together information more quickly than Shawn would have been able to. But she was also very dependent on instruction, she wasn't used to having to think entirely for herself.

Maggie and Glenn were working patiently with the apple trees. Glenn would climb them and try to get the ripest fruit, and Maggie stood down at the bottom, catching the ones he dropped before they hit the ground. They both looked to Rick when they heard them approaching, and saw Dawn running over to blocks of stone, pointing, "Look! Right here, it's still here!" She turned and ran towards the stables, sprinting even. She threw the doors wide open, "The wagon!" She ran up to it, checking it for damage, "It's still usable." She said when she saw Rick enter the doorway, "We can do this."

Rick rubbed his beard for a moment, thinking, "You hitch the horses, I'll go and get help."

They worked for the remaining hours of the day, and by the time the sun set, they had finished the outer layer of the wall. It would so to hold the walkers out for the night. They would have to continue the next day.

* * *

Carl stood on the wall, looking towards the direction Irene had headed. He wasn't going to move from this spot until he saw her horse. No one should ever have to be out there alone. Even if after all their time here, he had only seen four walkers. "I'm not leaving." He said to Michonne as he heard her footsteps echo towards him, Judith in her arms, "I'm not leaving until she comes back."

"I wasn't going to ask you to leave." She spoke calmly, handing him a piece of chicken jerky. "I came to give you dinner." She looked out at the river, "I'm sure she's fine. You saw what she did back when she met, and that was before she had her right arm back." She looked down at Carl, _Boy he's growing quickly._

"I know. But she shouldn't be out there alone, no one should." He hated being out there. Anyone could die at any moment, and apparently the same was true for here. Ken, Daryl, and Watson… "Michonne...:" Carl turned towards her, looking at the ground, "I don't want anyone else to die, I don't want to see anyone hurt anymore. What can I do to stop that?" He looked at her sincerely, eyes begging for answers, "No more. We can be safe here! We can. We have crops, and walls, and homes big enough for all of us… but we still can't stop people from getting hurt. Why?"

"I wish I knew." She said, looking at little Judith in her arms, "Perhaps there's nothing we can do, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. That's what people like Daryl, Watson, and Ken were trying to do. Keep us safe. That's what your dad does. It's just what we do for each other… So just keep doing what you're doing Carl. Irene would appreciate it." She patted his shoulder, it was getting harder and harder to see beyond the castle as the sun set. Soon he wouldn't be able to see much at all. "I'll bring you a coat so you can keep warm." She smiled, heading off to go fetch the coat, as she said she would.

When she got back, Carl was on the floor, leaning up against the railing, dead asleep. Michonne couldn't help but smile as she draped a blanket around him, having been unable find a coat. "Sleep tight Carl."

* * *

"Hnnng…." Carol heard from the bed behind her, which woke her up from her gentle sleep, "Uhhh…"

She turned around to see Ken, obviously very uncomfortable. His wrists and ankles had all been tied down, as with the other two, in the off chance that they should die and come back in the middle of the night. "Ken… Is that you?" She rubbed her eyes, as if that would enable her to see better. She grabbed Daryl's knife from the table just in case, "Ken?"

"Ugh…" He looked absolutely miserable alright. And he wouldn't stop struggling with his harnesses. "Mmm…"

"Ken, if you can hear me, I'm going to need you to say something, anything." She stood up, she needed to check his temperature. "Ken?" She said, when she didn't get a response. She walked over, and Ken looked up at her with pleading eyes. She reached her hand down to touch his forehead, "No fever. You're good. How are you feeling?"

"You… You thought I was dead… The restraints. What happened?" His voice was strained, like it was causing him great pain to talk, which it probably was. "I don't remember." The last thing he recalled was Watson killing that man. How terrifying he looked… It had actually haunted his dreams. But after that, it was all blank.

"The box you guys found, it was rigged to explode upon being opened." She spoke calmly, watching his expression as he tried to piece together the information. "Watson took most of it, Then Daryl. It seems Watson's arm took the shrapnel that would have hit you."

"Are they okay?"

"They're going to be fine." She smiled, taking one of his hands. "But how about you?" She remembered how no one came into see him, and it struck a sad chord in her heart.

"I'm fine, just happy to be alive… but you seem sad… what's wrong?" He looked at her curiously. "You said they'd be fine. I'm sure your husband will be happy to see you when he wakes up."

"He's not my…" Why did everyone think that? It wasn't as if they spent every waking moment of their free time together, or that she cooked for him, or that they gave each other embarrassing nicknames, or that he brought her little gifts when he got back from runs. Oh wait, they did all of that. She couldn't hide the blush that crept to her face, she could see why others thought that she and Daryl were together.

"Ah sorry… It's just that you two seem so close." He smiled, relaxing a bit. He leaned further into his pillow, still aware that she was staring at him, "You can say what's on your mind."

She sighed, examining the cuts on his face, "Don't you have somewhere here? A wife? Kids? Siblings?"

He sighed, shaking his head, "You're wondering why no one came in here? For me? Jeez… ugh… I'm here all by myself. I have a clan here, but they're not my blood or friends, just people I stay with, y'know?" He frowned, "Just me." He had had other people, but they had moved on, to a better place. That's what he had to keep thinking. That they weren't trapped in their reanimated corpses, helplessly watching as they were forced to kill their friends and family, and complete strangers begging for their lives and forgiveness. "The only one left, funny how that works, right?"

Carol shook her head, feeling sorry for him. She had lost her family, but she also kept it in some ways. "I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

He smiled, "You did, that's why you asked. To confirm what you suspected, right?" He fumbled with his harnesses a little more, "Could you undo this?" He chuckled, which earned a smile as she followed his instructions, "Daryl seems like a nice guy. Doesn't talk much though."

"Nice? That's a new one." She smiled, "Sweet is how I would describe him. Sweet."

* * *

Lyra knelt over her books, taking notes of everything that had happened that day. Where they could have come from, how these enemies were made. _I don't understand._ She began to pace the room, stifling her own coughs, _This doesn't make any sense._

"You don't have to do this all alone." Shawn said, leaning on the wall, with a slight yawn. "You shouldn't do this alone. Let me help." She shook her head, washing some more blood from her hands, "Whatever you have you likely got from the river, it's not contagious, someone else would've gotten it by now if it was." He took a step forward, arms folded across his chest.

"You have a plan, I can tell. What do you want." She sighed, leaning over the table, hands laying flat on it.

"I want to be your guard for the summit. You can take two, one for you, and one to guard the scribe. I want to be one of them." This piqued her curiosity, he had never expressed interest in it before. "I don't want to

just be a scout anymore, or that guy who never leaves the walls. I want to do more. For you, for Watson, and for my family." Dawn couldn't do this alone anymore, she was always so uptight, so responsible. How had she turned out that way and he didn't?

She rubbed the area between her eyebrows, thinking. "Fine." Was the word to leave her mouth, standing up straighter, "Though I want to know your end goal. Everyone hates these things. Beaurocracy didn't die when the dead came back, and that's exactly what these summits are, damn politics." This was their government now. And there were likely more just like them, scattered all over the world. Little systems that were working better than what was going on beyond their walls.

"I want to be your assistant. There's no rules saying you can't take two. It's what the Erickson's do. I want to show you I'm capable, that way I can join you and Watson." He stuck out his hand, and she gave him a glance, not sure what to say, "I'm not asking for answer now. I just want to be considered. After today, more than ever… it's clear we need a third person, whether it's me or not."

She reached out and shook his hand firmly, meeting his gaze, his eyes looked so different now. More focused, almost like his sister's. "You can be my ward at the summit." She smiled, noting the twinkle in his eye. "We'll decide what to do from there. In the meantime, help me get these plans in order. The summit will be at Schubert castle, it always is." This would be the first time he had been able to go to another castle for such an important event, he couldn't wait.

It would be the first time the castle leaders had gotten together in almost a year. Last time it was after the Death of Ranet himself, to appoint Lyra as an official castle leader. It was the first time such a thing had happened. Normally the castles would meet individually, two at a time, it was easier to coordinate that way. All five only met together when the situation was dire. Coincidentally that was also when a group to the north had cut down a herd of walkers, and the remains had been washed down their river. It was the first coordinated effort between the five to build a structure, a large net, to keep the remains from continuing to wash down the river.

There was no way to know what direction it would lean. What if Schubert really was responsible, what if this was a trap to lure the other four in? He wasn't that power hungry, he always seemed so willing to help the other groups when need be. What if the other groups didn't see these mystery men as a threat? What if this was now a chance for Gulyert to take Ranet out of the picture completely, becoming the sole military power of the five castles?

Too much was uncertain.

* * *

I would like to thank my wonderful best friend DevilsMaidenRen,

for being my absolutely relentless editor and biggest fan,

as well as you readers!

That being said, I do this not only to bring entertainment to myself, but also to others!  
So please do leave a review and let me know how you felt!

See you next Tuesday with chapter Two!


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later

Ranet Castle, moment de l'argent sans fin, year Three, month of the Twins.

Rick paced the walls, looking for any sign of those people that came before. One could never know if they would send reinforcements, and the fact that they hadn't was even more of a concern. What was their goal then? Just to break the wall? His eyes lingered on the section that was still being prepared. It was pretty stable now, but the explosion had indeed attracted quite a few walkers. Fortunately, the Erickson scouts took them down before they got too deep into the castle's territory. He saw out of the corner of his eye a lone horse approaching, and could make out the rider's red hair, "Irene's back, open the gate!" He called, and there were a few whoops of joy. He climbed down the steps, running to the gate to greet her. Lyra had heard the call and ran as well, unable to hide the smile on her face. It was good to know that their friend was safe and sound.

Irene swung off her horse first thing she could, looking to Rick and Lyra, "Are Shawn and Dawn alright? Is everyone alright? How's Watson, Ken, and Daryl?" She was taken by the shoulders by Lyra, eyes filled with panic, but when she saw Lyra's eyes she just began to sob, hugging her. Rick couldn't help but notice how strange she was acting. Something had obviously happened to her, but she would talk about it when she was ready. "I wasn't bitten… Don't worry."

Lyra sighed in relief, "Good, But of course I would worry. You rushing in here like that." She let go of her, and Irene rubbed her eyes, "Close call?" Irene nodded, and Lyra pulled her into another hug, petting her back, "You're home now, it's okay, and the kids have been doing great." She hugged her as close as she possibly could, and Irene was the one to finally separate them. "You good?"

"Yeah, I needed that, sorry." She sighed, rubbing her temples, "The wall looks good, I take it repairs are going smoothly?" She took her horse by the reigns, leading it slowly towards the stables. "You never told me about Daryl, Ken, and Watson."

"Ken is doing well." Rick said, keeping in stride with her, "He insisted on being put back on wall duty, but we're not letting him physically exert himself too much, or hold a weapon, lest he accidentally shoot someone. Daryl and Watson haven't woken up yet, but they're not in the danger zone anymore. You should check on them when you get the chance." He noticed how tired she looked, she probably hadn't slept much. "Get some rest, I'll take the horse back."

"No Rick, I'm fine." She smiled warily, "I'm just a little tired." She rubbed her neck, which was stiff from tension, "I've had a lot on my mind. The kids mostly." She smiled, thinking of them. "Dawn's been working very hard with her weapons, and I think Shawn is starting to grow up a bit, you know how boys always mature a bit later than the girls."

As they walked to the stables they could make out the forms of Carl and Dawn hanging out together underneath one of the conifer trees. "There they are." Rick said with a smile, Dawn was teaching Carl how to use her whip, and he was showing her how to hold a gun. Irene giggled, muttering something about puppy love. "Does a whip really work as a weapon?" He asked, looking too her. It seemed really impractical, haphazard even.

She smiled proudly, watching their forms in the distance, "Oh yeah." True, an ordinary whip wouldn't work for much, however, a metal one with a balled tip seemed to be just right for shattering skulls. They could hear the whip crack from this distance, "Did you know the whip was the first manmade object capable of breaking the sound barrier?" They were practicing on a poor innocent tree, if it had been a fruit bearing tree, Lyra might have killed them.

"No I didn't." Rick laughed, sliding his hands into his pockets. "It's hard to think of them growing up, almost like they didn't have a childhood at all. How did you end up taking them under your wing? Kids you didn't even know?"

She thought back to the time as she led her horse into its pen, clicking her tongue as she did so. "They were on the same flight as me, on our way to Germany. They closed off the borders as we were in the air and we were forced to turn back. When we landed, the airport was completely overrun, and their mother got bit as we were fleeing." She paused, giving herself time to close the gate, "I couldn't leave them there, so I took them with me. We got weapons at a place in the mountains Daryl had shown me, he saved my life and he didn't even know it." She smiled, her memories before the fall seemed like a distant dream now. It was hard to think that it was all even real. Of course, she had great memories too now, like finding the castle, her first group wedding ceremony, where they celebrated all the new couples of the year, and even when the first baby was born behind the walls. That was reality now, and it wasn't all black and bloody as they pretended it was, one just had to open their eyes a little wider to see the streaks of colour.

"I imagine that was quite a risk, they would have just been kids then." He helped her feed and water her horse, which she did practically on muscle memory.

"It was, but we all had our humanity back then didn't we?" It had been a struggle to retain the scraps they had on the journey here, and even harder to piece it all back together, to tell each other that everything was going to be okay and that they would move on. "I don't regret a second of it. Everything I had to give up to keep them safe has been completely worth it." She smiled, thinking of the two of them. Remembering the first time they had killed a walker together. Granted she had tied it up so that they could do it, so that they could know what it was going to feel like. Shortly after they had to kill their first person, Dawn had been the one to do it. They had grabbed Irene, and were threatening the children. They underestimated Dawn, only with that whip at the time, and she had gotten around and snapped it at their skulls. Shawn had broken down, completely in denial, he had still thought in part of his mind that all people were good, with that sense of blissful and childish ignorance.. "What about Carl?"

"We were separated, I was in a coma for the first few weeks of it all. He escaped with his mother and… someone else. I found them outside of Atlanta, it was a miracle really. After that, he grew up so quickly. They're adults now Irene, there's no other way to say it." This world, the one they lived in now, was going to change things. Kids were going to have to grow up faster, it was reality, but he wasn't sure he was willing to accept that. What about Judith? Would she be taught to hold a gun and use it by age eight? Ten? Twelve if they were lucky. Would she know what it felt like to watch the life drain from a person's eyes, perhaps someone she knew? It was unbearable to think about.

"Wow, that's unbelievable… The missus? Michonne doesn't look like Carl or Judith… Forgive me if I'm prying." She smiled sheepishly, locking the doors of the stable behind them, the sound of the whip filling their ears again.

"Died, She went into labour and Judith wasn't… Maggie had to cut her open." He rubbed his temples, remembering that day back at the prison. "Carl shot her to prevent her from turning." That was the point that he had really grown up, maybe not physically but mentally, for anyone to make that decision at that age it feels almost impossible.

"I'm so sorry." She said, taking his hands for a moment, "Grief is… Unbearable. I… I had to kill my best friend. He threatened to kill Shawn and Dawn, because I had given them the last crumbs of food that we had. It was insane, for him to suddenly snap like that... I told him to stop, that we could find more, but he didn't. When I told him he had to leave, he became even more irrational, blaming me for starving us, so I had to. There was nothing else I could do." She bit her lip, holding back tears, "That was one of the things I had to give up to keep them safe. I don't regret it, but it still hurts." She had really cared for him. He had become family in the time they spent together.

She let go of his hands, feeling insecure. "I'm going to go check on Shawn, since Dawn seems fine enough to not be running over here to greet her own mother." She laughed lightheartedly, smiling. "Tell Michonne I said hello." She smiled, turning around and heading off. Rick wanted to say something as he watched her go, but something told him not to, so he held his tongue, feeling his heart grow uneasy.

* * *

"No, Carl, you can't just flail your arm around like that. It doesn't come from the shoulder." Dawn grabbed his arm, guiding it slowly and gently, "Focus on the elbow, but the wrist is the most important part." That part had taken her forever to teach herself, given that she hadn't had any whipping instruction prior to the fall. She was standing closely behind him, guiding him in the motion repeatedly, unaware of the blush on his face which had grown from the physical contact, "Carl, are you paying attention?"

"Huh? Yeah t-totally." He said, stammering. Truth be told, he wasn't paying attention, at all, not with her being so close. Was it normal to feel this way? She was just a girl, girls were weird and had weird powers, one of such was apparently to numb minds. He flinched when he heard her groan and back off, "You okay?"

"Yeah, but you're such a terrible liar." She crossed her arms, leaning onto on of the trees, which had scars from her relentless practicing. "I want to take a walk." She said, feeling the gentle early summer breeze, "I mean not now, tonight. When the stars are out, you up for it?" She didn't look at him, instead just focused on the movement of the clouds in the sky, and the rustle of the trees. She loved the way the sunlight dappled through the canopy, leaving rays of light as it tunnelled its way for the ground. She loved this spot.

She seemed so thoughtful, he just wondered if he could stare at her forever, perhaps he was staring, because she suddenly gave him a strange look, "Oh yeah, sorry… Meet here? About an hour after sundown?" She nodded in response, and he felt his heart flutter for a second, "But wait… Is this a date?"

She looked at him a second, confused with the question, "No… Why would it be a date? We're sixteen. Dates are for adults, duh." At least, that was what Irene had told her. Irene would never lie over something so trivial, "But I'll see you here." She smiled, walking off. Carl just stood there, baffled. It sure sounded like a date to him.

* * *

Carol paced the doctor's room for the third time today, once again holding a meal for the two sleeping men. She just wished they would wake, so she could hear their voices again. "Daryl…" She sat beside him, putting the plate on the nightstand, taking his hand into hers, "Wake up… Wake up and be well." She closed her eyes, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand.

"God woman… Can't a man rest without being nagged?" He groggily answered, squinting his still closed eyes, but flinching as she leapt into his arms, before wrapping his arms around her thin frame, the sound of her relieved sobs already piercing his ears, "Stop cryin' would ya? I ain't dead." _But I am hungry_ he thought as the smell of her cooking wafted its way to his nose, causing his stomach to growl. She laughed a bit shakily into the crook of his neck hearing the sound.

"I brought food." She smiled, wiping her away her tears as she got off of him, then putting a bite of mashed potatoes on a fork, bringing it up to his lips as her eyes gently scanned his face, "Choochoo pookie." She jibbed as he opened his mouth to let her feed him. "I've missed you… The days have been so dull without your constant jokes about me."

He just grunted, too concerned with the food that was entering his mouth, he loved her cooking. "Hey, You good?" He asked when she paused to get up and get him some water.

"I should be asking you that." She smiled lightly as she undid his restraints. "You've been out for four days." The first thing he did was run his fingers through his hair, as if to inspect it.

"Damn woman, you washed my hair."

"I know, I'm such a terrible person, right?" She shook her head, fetching the water, gently placing it in his hands, "I can actually see your face for once too, without all of that dirt covering it up." She brushed his bangs out of his eyes, "I should have cut it while you were out." She smiled, looking up as one of the staff came into the room, placing Watson's jacket, which had been removed from his bloodied body in order for him to be bandaged and cleaned. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," The tall brunette, Rachel, nodded, "Just found a little more than I should have while cleaning it." She smiled, making sure everything was put away neatly, "But everything is fine."

Carol smiled, "Couldn't be that you found a severed pointer finger, could it?" She stepped over, helping her put everything away, "I'm sure whatever you found is nothing."

"Me too, ma'am." Rachel had a grin on her face, but Carol did not. Had she just been called ma'am? That made her feel old. Daryl burst into a fit of chuckles when he saw the startled look on her face.

Carol shot Daryl a glare, walking over when their work was complete, "Next time I'll really cut your hair." Venom dripped out of her mouth with absolutely certainty, causing Daryl to make a Rawring cat noise.

Lilly rushed in when she heard voices, stopping at the doorway with a faint smile, expecting Watson to be awake, "Oh, Hi Carol, Hi Daryl." She stepped in, shutting the door behind her as Rachel left to give them some space. She had gotten twice as awkward when she laid eyes on Lilly, but the shortie didn't seem to notice, perhaps because she couldn't even see into the brunette's eyes because of the height difference. She walked over to Watson, holding his hand, "Has he given any signs yet?"

Carol nodded, spinning around in her chair, "Yeah, he groaned a little bit earlier, but it didn't sound pained." Her eyes wandered to his belongings in the nightstand, "Rachel had brought in some of his stuff that was being cleaned." She pointed, and Lilly nodded.

"Hey." Daryl whispered, pulling Carol's attention back to him, "I want to get some air." He sat up, helped by Carol, "And I gotta take a piss." He noticed that he was in a robe, a pink one nonetheless. "Ew."

"They didn't have any other colour your size, and besides, real men wear pink." She helped him out of the bed, leading him towards the bathrooms, "I never thought we would have indoor plumbing again." Sure, it had apparently taken Watson sixteen months to figure out using numerous textbooks on the technological feats and advancements of the Roman empire, but he had gotten it done, and had even been able to help the other castles set it up. Hopefully next he would be able to get the showers operational, but for now they had tin tubs. "Can you handle yourself in there, big boy?" She chided, watching as he used the wall to support himself as he opened the door.

"I still have my dignity." He rolled his eyes, heading in, shutting the door behind him, while she leaned on the balcony overlooking the courtyard where they usually ate dinner as she waited. She could make out Irene's form, teaching some of the younger kids to use her signature weapon, a mixed form of martial arts (Which she had apparently been very good at.) and blades. The blades were attached running down the user's wrist, so when they flexed their hand back towards their shoulder, the blade was exposed and could be used repeatedly to jab an opponent. Sure, it wasn't the most efficient weapon, but it had kept her alive this long, and the youth needed every technique they could get, even behind the safety of these walls.

She heard the door open and spun around to be greeted by Daryl and his pink bathrobe, "Glad to see you made it out in one piece."

He scoffed, leaning on the balcony with her, watching the scene beneath them, "How did they get us onto the third floor." He blinked, looking around, it seemed terribly inefficient, but he almost didn't want to question it, considering they had somehow managed to keep all three of them alive, albeit the fact that it was even one of his concerns caused a giggle to leave Carol's throat.

"They had to cut you up and reassemble you one we got here." She elbowed him, pleased when he didn't fall over, at least he still had a sense of balance. After awhile, they turned off and started their walk. She could have sworn she heard Daryl say something a dozen times, but when she pressed him on it he merely replied that she was getting too old and starting to go senile, and would probably be hearing things for the rest of her life.

Again, she heard a whisper, finally stopping at a segment of the wall they were walking on, overlooking the expanse of mountains in the distance, and this was really beginning to agitate her, "Look, just say it."

"Say what?"

"Whatever it is that you're not saying!"

"Look Carol, it's honestly nothing, I just-"

She shook her head in confusion, "Just what Daryl-"

He sighed, running his hands through his unusually clean hair, "I almost died." He was still in shock about it, his mind was racing, and he felt a massive headache coming on.

* * *

Michonne sat down across from Maggie and Glenn, all three of which had dirt covering them from head to toe from working in the gardens all day, and had finally finished their work, all three had smiles on their faces from being finished for the day "It's nice to relax." Maggie said, sipping at her water, looking across the cobblestone landing to where the evidence of a hard day's work could be easily detected, "The corn will grow better now." She said with certainty. They had used some of the tricks she had learned from her father back on the farm.

Michonne watched Judith crawl around the room with a twinkle in her eye, "Now all we need is some wheat, so we can start making bread." She leaned back into her chair, remembering the path here, "Do you think that farm we came across would have some seeds?" She looked to Maggie, who after all, was the expert on this particular subject.

She chewed her lip, trying to recall everything, "Wheat is mostly grown out west because there's more land… but it wouldn't surprise me if they had some seeds in the shed. Even we did, we grew it for our own supply, many farmers do the same, even if they don't sell the crop." A smile grew on her face as Glenn wrapped his arm around her. "We could probably go get some."

"Oh no." He chided, kissing her cheek, "You're staying here. I'll talk to Lyra about it, you know this is my type of work." He stood up, stretching, trying to ignore his wife's pout, "Come on… Don't give me that face."

"Don't go alone." Michonne said, "I should come too, Maggie, could you watch Judith?" She had been watching over the little one since Carol was busier and busier by the day, especially since the explosion. Not that she minded, Judith was her little ray of sunshine afterall.

"Of course I could." She glanced back to the little one, who was in the middle of trying to pull herself up with a chair.

Lyra licked a cut she had accidentally gotten while teaching the kids, one of them had decided to do a cartwheel while having the blades attached to their wrists, and she had caught the idiot midroll. Sure, the cut wasn't deep, but it was still enough to annoy her. She tilted her head back when she heard footsteps approaching, "Glenn, Michonne, I take things went well this morning?" She received a strange look from Michonne upon licking her cut again, "What? I'm bleeding."

"You should get that looked at, even though it's shallow. Better safe than sorry." She sat down on a stump across from her, looking at the trees around them. "Glenn and I were discussing the possibility of getting some wheat seeds from a farm we came across, but we wanted your permission before we went out." Glenn looked over to the area where they were growing corn, surely they could get some wheat growing there.

Lyra made a face, pensive. "I don't see why not." She closed her eyes, which always helped her think, "The castle leaders aren't meeting for another week, and even then, that'll be the first of many meetings…" She wanted to curl into a ball just thinking about it. She had to see Volf Gulyert again, he was so rugged and chaffing. Ron Kirk II was a sweetheart, so she wouldn't mind seeing him again. Leah Erickson was the epitome of everything short and adorable, with a hint of badass. And Frank Schubert was annoyingly altruistic and always jumped at the opportunity to help one of the other castles. "Just make sure to be back by then, I want ample able bodies here to protect the castle, just in case this really is a trap to lure the leaders away." Glenn nodded, glad to see that she was a reasonable person. He hadn't spoken to her face to face much since they had gotten there. "Though… Watson is going to want to go with you when he wakes up, which should be either later today, or tomorrow, based on when Daryl woke up… So take him with you, but monitor him, make sure he's… stable." She sighed, hating the fact that she may lose her best friend, "Explosions can rattle the mind, make people lose themselves, I want to make sure he's not crazy before I leave the entire castle to him. Until he wakes up, take time to prepare."

"May I go as well?" Dawn said from where she had been reading a book, up in the branches of a tree, "I finished my chores, and helped Shawn complete his." She swiftly climbed out of the tree, setting her book down on the stump that Lyra was sitting on, "I know Watson better than they do, I may be able to notice more subtle changes." Of course, that was an excuse, she simply loved leaving the walls, more than anything. "Come on, please." She pouted, trying to read Lyra's expression, which wasn't easy.

Lyra looked to Glenn and Michonne, "She's capable, and won't be a burden. I suggest she come, but it's your call."

Michonne thought back to the time before they arrived at the wall, traveling with Irene and the twins. Dawn had definitely proved herself on multiple occasions. She had saved Carol and Judith from several walkers with that whip of hers. Carol had been unable to shoot with the screaming baby in her arms, and the cries were only drawing more to them. Instead of running, Dawn had stayed there to protect them, even though it had put herself at risk, and held the line long enough for the rest of the group to arrive. She glanced at Glenn, certain that they were thinking along the same lines, and he nodded, agreeing with her. "Alright Dawn, you ready?"

A huge grin grew on her face, "I'm always ready!" Now she just had to tell Carl about their little excursion while they were on their walk tonight, she couldn't wait. "I'll be right there when you're ready to head out, just let me know." She practically skipped off, a sense of glee and accomplishment in her steps.

"Oh…" Lyra froze, looking at the two adults, making sure that it was quiet after Dawn had run off, and that no one was within earshot, "If he's… senile, crazy, or any sort of burden… Don't bring him back." She felt her heart about to burst at the thought of having to leave her best friend out there, "Make sure he can't come back… I need you to…" She couldn't manage to get the last word out of her mouth, it pained her too much.

Michonne nodded, understanding what she meant to say, and Glenn did too. They understood why she would order such a thing, having a leader who had lost his marbles wouldn't be good for Ranet, and they couldn't simply lock him up, or demote him, he had the respect of the people. Doing such a thing would attract too much attention, people would wonder why, and perhaps blame Lyra for it, maybe even say that she was power hungry, which couldn't be further from the truth.

* * *

That evening, Carl stood out on the wall of the second gate, leaning on it. He could see horses being prepared, along with several bags attached to their saddles. Someone was going out scavenging. "Hey." He jumped when he heard the voice, she sure was quiet when she needed to be. He spun around to see Dawn in a nice flowy yellow dress, "Sorry did I scare you?" She giggled, leaning on the wall beside him, looking up at the clear view of the stars.

"A bit." He smiled, mimicking her actions. "Though they are pretty, you were right." He could make out some of the constellations he used to learn about in school, particularly the ones that sailors used to use for navigation, who had thought that that knowledge would ever be helpful?

"I'm going on a run with Michonne and Glenn, we leave the day after Watson wakes up." She said, looking to his face to judge his reaction.

He got off the wall, standing in front of her, "Are you crazy?" This sure was abrupt. He leaned in, looking into her eyes, which were scanning his just as rapidly, "I know you want to help, I know you like it out there, but you shouldn't go. Watson shouldn't either!" It only made sense that the two of them would want to go, they did everything for this group. Dawn did more than her fair share of work.

"I want to go." She said, placing her hands on his arms, which were pinned on his hips, "It's something I'm good at." She couldn't explain how she felt about it, but something was always pulling her back out there, even though she logically knew that it was completely insane. "I just have to… Why do you care?"

"Because you're my friend." He nodded, backing away, trying to put his feelings and thoughts into words, but to no avail.

She nodded, but was still baffled by it all, "But I'm going." She sighed, heading further down the wall, now more than ever wanting to blow off steam. Carl put their differences down, and chased after her, sliding his hand into hers.

* * *

The ruckus in the patients' room had continued for quite a bit, especially upon Daryl and Carol's return. The pair couldn't stop laughing, as if the best and funniest thing in the world had just happened, and to them, it had, a couple of the children had pretended to by Lyra, Watson, and Rick, making parodies of their various leading styles, which had been just the thing they needed to cheer themselves up.

Lilly was tending to the room, making beds and such to keep herself occupied while still being able to watch over Watson. Her eyes lit up when they walked into the room, finally being able to have some company, especially company with smiles on their faces. It wasn't long before she joined in on the fun, quizzically mimicking the various other members of the group.

"Can't a man rest around here?" Watson said with a groggy smile, having been watching the group for a few minutes as he tried to piece himself and his memories of what had occurred together, but it was all a haze, the last thing he remembered was crushing a man's skull, which sent chills down his spine. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you didn't care at all."The group froze for a second, and Lilly rushed over to Watson's bedside, wrapping her arms delicately around his neck as she pulled him into a kiss. Daryl and Carol backed out in shock. Yang, who was outside washing the bedsheets, had overheard and bellowed out about Watson's revival.

Watson gasped for air when he was released from his lip lock, wondering how he even got here in the first place, looking his paramor in the eyes. She had kissed him in front of people? That was a rule… They weren't allowed to show affection for each other in public. "They know." She said, petting his face, "She's okay with it." She saw a flicker of worry in his eyes, but it faded to relief when he knew they had their leader's blessing, and tears began to flow from her eyes, "I'm so happy that you're okay… I don't know what I would do if something happened to you." She undid his restraints, and he cupped her face with his left hand, finding that his right arm was inconceivably stiff.

"What happened?" He started working on his own bandages, taking the ones off of his right arm, there was minimal scarring to his arm itself, but his hand was mountainous with the peaks and valleys of scar tissue. "Oh my god." He ran his left hand over his right, a headache looming over him as he fought to remember what could have possibly caused this kind of damage. "Shrapnel… This wasn't a sword or a bow, let alone a gun… This was caused by shrapnel."

Daryl nodded, Lilly was too choked up to speak, he had some scars along his gut from it as well, "We received a package under three men faking to be from Schubert, but you caught 'em, and we killed them. When we opened the package, it exploded, knocked the three of us out." He didn't mention the part where it had taken down part of the wall. "But once we were out, they found the extra boxes we thought nothing of a the time, but they're rigged tool, they were going to head to the other castles with 'em."

He sighed, at least they had prevented another wall from getting blown off. "Did someone finish sharpening my sword? I know Grace was going to…" He rubbed his shoulder, rolling his neck as well, "And… Why am I dressed in a… pink robe."

Daryl smirked, "Real men wear pink."

* * *

Two Days Later

Ranet Castle, moment de l'argent sans fin, year Three, month of the Twins.

Dawn held onto her horse's reins tightly, listening to the clop of hooves around her. She looked around to the others, Glenn, Michonne, and Watson, the latter was tense, he hadn't been outside the castle gates in the longest of times, probably when Ranet began training him to be an assistant, when _Volf_ of all people had saved him, right after Gulyert was founded and he had been appointed. Dawn didn't know the details, but she did know that the two had hated each other ever since.

They cantered into the nearest town on their way to the farm. They were initially going to avoid towns like these altogether, but Watson had suggested that they go through this way, since Erickson's scouts had already cleared it many times, and even used this place as a locale to train new scouts. "It's mostly scavenged." He said, leading them, "But this is where we got most of our seeds, and where we continue to get our bedding and our clothes while Grace tries to teach herself how to make such things." Grace was their go to person for everything, albeit she hardly ever left her clan room because she was always trying to figure something else out. She was responsible for teaching the women how to use washboards, and had helped Watson set up the indoor plumbing, which had taken them months.

"Grace?" Michonne asked, never having seen or heard of the person in question, Glenn seemed curious as well.

"She's our jack-of-all-trades." Dawn explained, trotting up, "You'll hardly ever see her, probably only on big celebration days." Granted, that was only because Lyra dragged her out against her will. "She'll also rarely go into the garden and pick flowers." No one really knew what she did with those flowers either.

They continued down a bit further, but Watson suddenly slowed to a trot, signally the group by raising his left fist to come to a halt, a signal that only Dawn recognised, but it didn't take too long for Michonne and Glenn to figure out. He scanned the area with narrowed eyes, before signalling them on. Glenn caught up to him, looking at him carefully. Maybe Lyra had been right, maybe he was going to lose it, but could they really kill him? What would Dawn do? "What was that? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just… well, sensed something if that's the right way to put it. Perhaps those painkillers Yang gave me are stronger than I thought." He smiled, flicking his hair out of his face with a majestic flip, almost too coordinated, as if he'd practiced it before. Glenn noticed this with mild curiosity, "Were you a hairdresser?"

"What?" Watson paused, thinking, "No… I was not a hairdresser." He chuckled, "Oh no."

"What were you?" He asked, trying to put his finger on it, "You're smart… an engineer?"

"If I was an engineer, I would have those showers running already… but I almost got it. Almost." Truth been told, he had been working on this puzzle for months. He could get cold water in there no problem, it just depended on the temperature of the water in the basin that the shower was pulling from. But no, that wasn't good enough, he wanted the user to be able to control the temperature just like they could before the fall, and he almost had, he just knew it. "What were you?"

"I delivered pizza." He focused on the road ahead, Watson seemed to be eyeing it again, as if he expected something to jump out at them. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?" He looked to Michonne, who was noticing the same things that he was, "Watson look, if you're not feeling well, we can stop-"

"Shut up, all of you." He stopped again, not taking his eyes off of a candle shop, getting off his horse, Dawn calling him an idiot under her breath. "There's someone there." He whispered very, very quietly, drawing his sword. It felt very clunky in his left hand, but he wasn't ready to use his right yet, it was still healing.

Said someone stepped out, holding an axe over one of his broad shoulders, his blue eyes locking with Watson's green, "You…" He said in a thick Romanian accent, "How's my lady?"

Watson's eyes widened, tensing up, and Dawn jumped down from her horse as well, going to stand a few feet beside him in case the man across from them tried anything stupid. "Volf…" Watson said, looking back to the other two behind them, who both seemed very confused, "Lyra… is fine."

Volf nodded, striding right up to Watson, driving his axe blade first into the ground, allowing himself to get almost uncomfortably close to Watson, and the two locked eyes with each other, neither daring to be the first one to break contact, "Do tell her, and whoever she bringing to the meeting… To stop by Gulyert first. I am worried that someone may attempt to harm our little princess." He reached up and stroked a cut on Watson's cheek which had been left by the shrapnel, "They targeted you first for a reason… and with malicious intent… this shrapnel was serrated." He dropped his hand to his side again, and Watson was starting to feel a tad unnerved, Glenn was ready to let bullets fly at any given moment. "I fear they may go after Ranet again. I want her guarded by me and my people as well. We cannot let a leader fall, especially while the people of Ranet are hiding their fear."

"The people of Ranet don't fear what they can control." He rubbed his cheek where Volf had touched it, feeling quite violated, but he wasn't going to express it, Volf was trying to express his power with little messages like that, and Watson knew it, and he wasn't going to let it happen. "How do you know what they are feeling? You're not of Ranet."

"I was there last night, or did you not see that… what do you people call it… Love tattoo on dear Lyra's arm?" He smirked, leaning a bit further in. He sure was much taller than the man with the sword,

He was silent for a moment, trying to piece everything together, "She said she walked into a tree branch in the middle of the night…"

"Lyra never leaves her room at night if she can help it."

"Liar. That's… She would never." He jutted his chin up with absolute certainty even though doubt was beginning to plant its seed in his heart. "That would be treason, if she brought you in, she would have to notify me. One of the few rules of Ranet we didn't modify."

Volf almost laughed, which only came out as a sharp exhale from his nose and a smirk, "You have pretty eyes, green." He said, venom dripping from his mouth in a passive aggressive battle that the two had shared since they met.

"So do you, blue."

Volf heard the man who was now leaving the shop with a bag of candles shut the shop door. A stout man, with his brown hair tied back in a pony tail. "Well, Zach, let's get going. The Dogs here need to serve their Alpha, let's not distract them." He said this without breaking the staring contest keeping he and Watson linked, "Woof." He leaned in and whispered something to Watson, with a huge grin, before heading off to rejoin his group, who were all eager to see him.

Watson yanked his sword out of the ground, and mounted his horse without a word, Dawn following suit. Glenn was glad to know that Watson wasn't losing it, and had indeed been alert and noticing signs of people being near, but he was still bothered by this Volf.

Michonne watched them go, still a bit unnerved by the whole situation. At least they were friendly, in the aspect that they didn't try to kill anyone. But at least now they had seen another one of these castle leaders.

* * *

Carl stood at the wall, shotgun in hand, sitting in a chair his father had brought out for him. Rick watched as his son stared out in the distance, where he promised to remain until Dawn returned. "Carl…" He stepped out onto the stone from where he was hiding in the stairwell, "She'll be back, but this isn't healthy." Michonne had told him how Carl waited all night for Irene to return, and had even fallen asleep outside. "Please come back inside."

"Dad, I have to wait here… I tried to tell her not to go… But she insisted." He looked up at his dad, confused, "Why are girls so…" It didn't make any sense, it's like they tried to get themselves in harm's way on purpose! Why couldn't she just stay where he could keep her safe? "I don't get them."

"Carl, you will never understand women, it's a known fact among men." He placed a hand on his son's shoulder, "I still don't."

"But Dad…" He shook his head, not sure if he wanted to open this can of beans, "Is it true that only adults can go on dates?"

Rick was taken aback by this question, "Well… There's really nowhere to go on a date to anymore." He laughed at that, the irony of it all, "But… I… I really think you should wait until you're a bit older…" Goodness knows what teenage hormones would lead to in this world.

"Dad. I'm an adult. Maybe not legally, but there aren't laws anymore to regulate that after all." He stood up to face his father, "I mean… Is this normal? I don't get it."

Rick nodded, he supposed with everything that had happened, He and Carl had never had _The Talk_. "Well, son, you see…"

* * *

Two days later

Ranet Castle, moment de l'argent sans fin, year Three, month of the Twins.

The four raised their left elbows into the air, dropping the right hand into a blade, connecting the two lines as if aiming a spear to the ground. The gate was immediately opened, and they rode their horses into the middle ground.

Michonne couldn't have been happier to see little Judith and Carl, whom Rick had brought around when he knew the group was returning. Maggie ran to Glenn, telling him all of the good news from while he was gone, and how the puppies were beginning to respond to her commands. Lilly had run up, yelling for James, which surprised everyone to be hearing his first name, and Dawn just waited around for her chance to see Carl, lounging around by some of the trees in the middle ground.

Lyra smiled from the second gateway, leaning on the stone wall, happy to see that they had returned safely, and turned around, heading back to where she was taking over Watson's class of little ones.

"Dawn!" Carl yelled when he laid eyes on her, though blushed when some of his dad's words from the other night popped into his head, earning a crooked glance from Dawn. "How'd… How'd it go?"

Dawn smiled, shifting from side to side as if she was a delicate flower swaying in the breeze, the movement of her golden hair back and forth catching Carl's attention as the light danced between every strand. He couldn't help but stare at it. How did it stay so… bouncy? "We found some stuff for Carol that Glenn says she would really like, and of course, we got the wheat seeds." She watched his eyes track her movements, and froze, _I knew it, he's totally staring!_ "Carl, you good?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good… Just uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck, and his face turned a deeper shade of red, causing Dawn to reach out and check his temperature, "What are you doing…?"

"Checking to see if you have a fever, but you don't. Still, I suggest we get you to bed, you may be coming down with something judging by how red your face is. It wouldn't do. Plus… Can we talk later? I have some training I have to catch up on, and I don't really have time to waste." Her eyes were cold now, completely different than the girl a few seconds ago, "See you later? See if Ma will make you any soup."

"Kay…" Carl crinkled his brow, _What's come over her?_

She smiled and kissed his cheek before spinning off, running to catch up with Lyra, who would be teaching her how to use her weapon, as well as martial arts, as they did every evening. Given that she had missed two days, today was going to be extra tough.

Carl rubbed his cheek where Dawn had kissed him. It felt so warm, _Dad was right, I'll never understand girls…._

After the class, where Lyra was teaching the young ones to read, Dawn pulled Lyra to the side, "So what are we doing today, ma'am?" Dawn smiled brightly, this was her favourite time of day, the time she got to relieve all her stress from the day. She hated doing chores, she hated helping in the kitchen, and she hated doing that stupid inventory sheet that she sometimes helped Watson with. She hated it. But would anyone ever know that? No. Because she had this time where she could try and beat her teacher at her own game. Granted, she always lost, given that Lyra was literally the inventor of this type of fighting, but it was still worth a shot.

"How about you rest for the day?" Lyra smiled, sitting down, she was exhausted despite having slept decently.

Dawn shook her head, "I'm ready to go, I promise." Dawn was far too excited to see how her teacher was feeling. "Ma'am?"

Daryl looked over, "Lyra, Watson is looking for you." He looked at Dawn, who was totally bummed out that her instructor was being taken away, "If you want… I could run the drills." True, he knew nothing about formal martial arts, but he knew how to bash in a man's skull, that had to count for something.

Lyra got up with a yawn, "Yeah sure, have fun, don't let her beat you up too badly, she's feisty." She walked off, heading to the marble bench she knew Watson was going to be waiting at.

Daryl chuckled, there was no way a little girl could beat him in a hand to hand fight. Especially if she was taking off the wooden training blades off her wrists, "What are you doing? Don't you need those?"

"You don't know what you're doing, I could accidentally kill you, even if they're just wood." She said with a confident smile gracing her lips, looking up at him, "Did you see me break that guy's neck that one time? The one y'know… twice your size?" She was pretty sure he had been a wrestler in the WWE, what was his name? Jack Ceira? Something like that, it was either him, or a really convincing look alike.

The memories suddenly flashed through Daryl's mind. He and Irene had been rushing to rescue the young Damsel, only to see her practically twist a man's head off before cracking his skull with a rock once he hit the ground. "Let's run laps."

"Good idea." He was injured after all.

* * *

"Hey." Lyra nodded, sitting beside her assistant, who put down his copy of _The Advents of Rome._ "Daryl said that you wanted to see me, did something happen out there?" More importantly, why didn't he send Glenn or Michonne, who had actually been on the scouting trip? Unless it was something they knew, something he wanted them to forget about.

"Look, we can't talk here, let's go to your room, it's closer." He stood up, extending his hand with a twinkling smile to help her up.

"Sure…" She lead him up the stairs, past what was once the dining hall, which was now used as a classroom, especially during the winter and summer, and up to her door. She slid the key off her wrist, which she kept attached via a silver bracelet, and undid the lock, letting him in with a smile. "What's up?" She asked as she shut the door behind her, surprised to see his eyes wandering elsewhere in the room, "Yeah, I've rearranged things since… Well since you were here last. I needed change." She flung the curtains open, letting in the pink and orange tinted light of the sun as it fell towards twilight.

"Well… I just wanted to let you know we ran into Volf along the way. At the old Candle shop." He heard her wince, "No we didn't fight. He was very touchy though… It was odd. And he wanted me to request that you go to Gulyert before the meeting. He believes that you will be targeted on the way there, and wants you to have extra guards."

Lyra rolled her eyes, but nodded, "He's not the traitor, I'm certain of that, Watson." She spun around to meet his gaze, sitting on the windowsill, crossing one leg over the other.

He sighed, rubbing his hair, "That's not the only thing he said. He said he was here the other night, with you, and he inferred very clearly an intimate relationship."

"Are you accusing me of-"

"I'm not accusing you of anything, it's a dumb rule." He crossed his arms, sitting on her bed. The thought that Volf could have been there made him sick. Volf!

"Then why do you care?" She shook her head, infuriated that he was even asking her about this, "You didn't tell me about-"

"Lilly? Oh because she lives here, in Ranet. And I can do my job without getting distracted because she's here. To keep her safe, I just need to keep Ranet safe. Volf? It's my job to know who is in here at all times. If he's here, you have to tell me. You don't have to tell me what you're doing, what you're talking about, or any of that, but if he is in these walls, possibly putting our people in danger, I have to know." He saw her look away, still shaking her head, though now her arms were crossed as well.

She seemed in thought for a moment, as if mulling over what he said, "He was never here."

"He knew you had a bruise." He pointed to the one on her arm, which was supposedly a hickey. "Specifically asked if I had seen it."

"I always have a bruise! I'm teaching Dawn to fight! She's better than you think, gets me at least twice a day. And when I'm helping with the farming equipment? When one of those idiot calves runs into me? I _always_ have bruises. He knows that, he's seen them, and now he's using that knowledge to play little games with you-"

"And you're telling me, that someone trying to target Ranet… Wouldn't want to tear us apart like that?" He got up, taking a step towards her, "Listen to what you're saying. He's playing mind games with me. And he wants to meet with you before everyone else? Lyra, I don't like this, and I know you don't either. _We_ hate Volf. Okay? He's no good. He can run a military camp well, but that's it, that's all he knows, and that's something to be terrified of." He thought of Lilly, about her getting hurt because of Volf, and it made him sick.

"Can you… Can you listen to me?" She spoke more softly, to the point where he had to move closer to be able to hear her clearly, "Listen… As much of an ass as Volf is… As dangerous as he is… I'm telling you it wasn't him… Can you just trust me on this?" She plead into his eyes, which were unusually soft, especially given the tension that they had just been feeling.

"How… How can you know this? Do you honestly expect me to trust you on a hunch?" He was whispering too, his forehead now on hers, like he as eskimo kissing a small child to sleep. "That's insane… To put everyone in here… their lives at risk, because of a hunch?"

"You asked me to… Not even too long ago. You asked me to let Rick's group in here without evidence. You simply told me that they were good people, and you were tired of killing. I trusted you then, so please just trust me on this." She skirted around him to get to her bed, sitting on it, putting her head in her hands, starting to cry, even though he couldn't see or hear it from where he was standing. "Pleases though… I need some sleep… I'm not feeling well, I'm not sure I slept well last night."

He nodded, puffing out some air, releasing tension. "Yeah sure… I'll lock the door on my way out. Rest well." He was about to head out the door when he heard her speak up again.

"Hey Watson?"

"Yeah?" His hand still lingered on the door handle, listening intently to her muffled voice.

"Thanks… For being so watchful. For keeping us safe. And… Try to get some rest too… I'm sure you're exhausted." He nodded, but didn't say any other words as he swung the door open and locked it behind him.

* * *

"Glenn, look." Maggie said, calling over the puppies with a short whistle, and they all came running. She held out a piece of cloth, which someone had taken off a walker, and let them smell it. "They're half pointer, half german shepherd. Yang says we should be able to teach them traits of both breeds, if we're lucky." She peered over her shoulder, looking at Glenn who had a huge smile on his face, looking at the moon, which was now suspended in the sky about them, "You're not even looking." She pouted, dropping the cloth, listening to the puppies tear it up into shreds beneath her.

"Hey, what about Luna?"

"Our baby is not a pony." She giggled, looking up to the sky, "But Stella is nice." She noticed out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod. At least they had finally agreed on one name, "Alduin is out of the question too."

"Aw come on! He's a sweet dragon!" Glenn threw his arms in the air, thinking he had finally won, only to be dropped again, "Gandalf?"

"Definitely not!"

* * *

Daryl watched as Dawn ran laps around the apple trees, tending to the cut on his gut that had reopened when he was running alongside her, when saw Carol walking over with a late dinner, glancing at Dawn, "Well she certainly has energy to spare." She smiled, and Shawn caught up with two glasses of freshly pressed apple juice, "Look, bet you never thought you would see juice again."

Daryl immediately took a sip of the juice Shawn had presented him with, letting the flavour dance on his tongue for a moment. "What did I do to deserve this?" He looked at Carol seriously, "Wait wait, don't tell me, I made the honour roll."

Shawn shook his head, "Actually, we were making apple cider, and this was the leftover juice-"

Carol shushed him, "Let him think he's special." She mocked, knowing full well that Daryl could hear them, and began to smile.

"Ah, got it." He nodded his head, "You got a participation trophy in the local soccer league, so we made you this, just for you."

Daryl shook his head, still watching Dawn, "You guys are assholes."

Shawn and Carol sat down on the bench, and waited for Dawn to make her way back to where they were, which she did, and they all sat down to enjoy dinner and apple juice together.

* * *

The second gates were opened, and those that were heading out to the meeting stood there, Lyra, Lilly, Daryl, and Shawn, and they said goodbye to those they cared for, while the castle was about to break into celeration for the gathering of their leaders.

"Lilly… Oh please do take care." He looked at Daryl, who he knew would watch over her carefully, who was saying goodbye to Carol, Irene, and 'Lil asskicker'.

Lilly nodded, feeling nervous, she still hadn't told Watson about how she suspected that she was pregnant, and didn't plan on telling him until she returned, but just enjoyed the moment she had there, holding his hands. "I love you."

"I love you too." He said, not wanting to let go.

"Listen, Shawn, don't do anything stupid to impress Lyra, alright?" Dawn chided him, like he was a small child, "And don't do anything strange. That means not doing anything that I wouldn't do." Dawn smiled.

Shawn tilted his heads to the side like a confused puppy, "So I should kiss Carl?"

"Listen you!" She yelled, nearly getting out her whip, if it hadn't been for her mother rushing over to restrain her, which was quite difficult.

Irene wheezed out, holding her Titan daughter still was immensely difficult, let alone to talk while doing it, "I'm sure Shawn will do wonderfully." She smiled at him, "I'm so proud of you."

"When you get home, I'll make cinnamon rolls." Carol added with a smile, holding Judith, "And we can have a picnic, just the three of us."

"Sounds good." Daryl mumbled, just before popping a boiled egg in his mouth, whole. Causing Carol to give him a look over, "What woman? Damn dead people walkin' around and you want me to use table manners?"

Carol nodded slowly, but didn't verbally respond other than her laughter.

Lyra simply stood, watching the scene, before ordering the guards to let open the first gate, which meant that everyone who wasn't leaving the walls had to retreat behind the second again, as both gates were never to be opened at the same time.

The four slowly gathered around waving their final goodbyes with great joy. Hopefully, when they were back, they would have a solution to their new problem, and maybe even know who those strange men were, and there might even be some food left over, hopefully. Lyra looked them over, she had a good crew this time, then again, she always had a good crew.

Shawn had an idiotic smile seemingly permanently plastered onto his face, holding onto his bow string, which was wrapped over his shoulder. They would be travelling on foot, which would seem like a bad idea, but on the flat land between Ranet and the mountains, walkers were easily drawn by the sound of horses,assuming Erickson didn't take them out, which they likely did to make everyone's trek there easier. Lilly seemed extremely jumpy, but Daryl was there to keep her under control. It was comical seeing them stand together, because he was almost twice her height.

"Hey, Lyra." Lilly noticed something, something terribly abnormal, something almost life threatening as the first gate closed behind them, "You're properly dressed for once, jeans!"

Lyra spun around, a blush creeping across her face, "What?! Lilly-" Daryl clamped a hand over her mouth, already wondering how he got rigged into doing this. These people were sheltered morons.

"Keep your damn mouth shut, I actually want to get there, and get home." He felt Lyra nod, and released his grip on her, and they began their walk.

Hopefully they would get there, to Gulyert.


End file.
